Welcome from Nathalie!

Hi Everyone!


My name is Nathalie, I'm 23 years old and from Germany. I study Economic Education in Saarbruecken and I started my internship with Sydney Internships last Monday.

Me :-)

From today I will send you the weekly newsletter and you can also read my blog...become a follower!!
I' m looking forward to reading all of your comments ;-)


To graduate from University I need to complete a three month internship in an English speaking country. I chose Australia  because I wanted to see the unique landscape and culture but more importantly I have always wanted to learn how to surf at the famous Bondi Beach :-)


I arrived in Sydney at the beginning of August and stayed for three nights in a hostel in Kings Cross....It was loud, busy and a shock to the system.
I wanted to get over my jet lag but I ended up partying each night. I can really recommend this area if you want to have a fun night out!


After the three days in Sydney I flew to Adelaide to join a six day bus trip to Alice Springs.
The tour included a visit to The Flinders Ranges, Cooper Pedy,  Ayers Rock, the Olgas and Kings Canyon. It was simply amazing to see all those places! There is way too much to write about each place so I'm going to leave it up to you to explore on your own.
We drove through the outback and I was very surprised to see so many wild animals in such a dry environment. It was awesome to watch the eagles circling and we even needed to stop on the highway a few times because there were wild horses, camels or emus crossing the road.

Ayers Rock at sunrise

 
I also went to Melbourne for a couple of days and I really enjoyed a trip along the Great Ocean Road and to Phillip Island. On the island I saw hundreds of penguins waddling out of the sea which was absolutely incredible!
Melbourne itself is a beautiful city which has loads of street performers playing music and singing. There are also so many nice places to sit back and enjoy the city vibe. If you get the chance to visit this city you will definitely enjoy it.

Free City Circle Tram in Melbourne

Back in Sydney I experienced my first weekend. Annika  introduced me to some of her friends and we all went to Echo Point Karaoke Bar. We had an awesome karaoke night! On Friday Annika and I caught a ferry to Manly to enjoy a beautiful day on the beach eating ice cream.

Manly shopping mall

Manly Beach

Some friends and I went to The Rocks market on Saturday where I really enjoyed the atmosphere. So many tourists but so many great stalls. Also the weather was fantastic so it added to the experience. On Saturday night we went out partying at the Ivy. It was so much fun! I really recommend this club if you want to party in an awesome location with an open air dance floor but you need to be an early bird if you don't want to stand in the queue for ages.

Rocks Market

On Sunday the focus was on relaxing :-) We went to Bondi Beach and simply enjoyed watching the sea and the surfers. There was also a festival on called the Orange Festival. It displayed all the products from this area which is located close to the Blue Mountains. There was wine, cheese, fruits and thankfully we could sample many of the products. It was a nice surprise to our day and was really enjoyable. We also had a short walk through the Bondi Market where there were interesting second hand clothes and much much more! :-)

Bondi Beach

Bondi Market

I' m sad to say goodbye to Annika on Friday but I bet she will follow the blog and comment on my posts to let us all know that she is enjoying being back home! :-)


Until then, I will use her sign off.....

YUMMY!

I can't believe that this is my last post to the blog. My time in Sydney has gone so so so fast. I would love to extend my stay so I can travel around Australia but I'll have to save it for next time :( 
I'm sad to leave but I'm also excited to see my family and friends back home. My time in Sydney has been amazing and I can really recommend doing an internship abroad. The experience will be beneficial for your future working career and overall personal development.

Anyway, lets talk about what I was up to for the past few days for the last time.

Last week I was on a trip in Melbourne with another German intern named Magdalena. We traveled the Great Ocean Road and were lucky to have sunny weather the entire time. It was simply amazing to see the Twelve Apostles. There were loads of people throughout the drive who were all very camera happy taking hundreds of pictures.

Loch Arch

Twelve Apostles

Before we arrived at the Twelve Apostles we were lucky enough to see some wild koalas sleeping in the trees. They spend all day and everyday eating and sleeping...perfect life!!!

We also had the chance to feed some parrots. They were sitting on our hand and eating the corn that we gave them. After an awesome day on the Great Ocean Road I had no trouble falling asleep very early.

Colorful Parrot

In Melbourne's CBD we caught a free city circle tram to get an overview of Melbourne...It's a nice  city.
There are loads of sculptures around the city. Melbourne has a European atmosphere but I still prefer Sydney.

Melbourne has a nice beach area named St Kilda. Magdalena and I spent our last day in Melbourne walking on the beach promenade. If you are lucky you can see penguins in St Kilda but unfortunately we didn't see any. The trip to Melbourne was definitely worth it.

Skyline Melbourne

St Kilda

Back in Sydney my flatmate and I took advantage of the sunny weather and climbed the Harbour Bridge Pylon (only $6.50). Once at the top we enjoyed a spectacular view over Sydney's Circular Quay and Opera House. When we were at the top of the Pylon a girl overheard me speaking in German to my friend Nadine and also started speaking German to us. We shouldn't have been as surprised as we were because there are loads of Germans in Sydney.   

Opera House

Circular Quay, Sydney Skyline

On Friday I booked the Essential Tour through the Opera House. They gave me interesting information about the building's history and the architect Jorn Utzon. What an amazing building!

The weekend ended with a visit to the Rocks Market. The best stall is the handmade nougat...yum!! Unfortunately is was very windy so a few of the stalls weren't there. We decided to go to Max Brenner. Any excuse to go there!! Max Brenner is a chocolate restaurant that you can find all around Sydney. We ordered chocolate fondue with fruit and marshmallows. YUMMY !!! With a very full belly we went home and had another early night.

Chocolate fondue before....

after...

On Monday our new intern named Nathalie started her internship with Sydney Internships. From next week I will hand over the blog to Nathalie. She is very exited so tell you her adventures in Sydney and get to know as many of you as possible.

Until then.....

  

What a beautiful rainbow!

My weekend started early on a Friday with a relaxing day on Bondi Beach. Since I arrived in Sydney, it was the first time that it was warm enough to wear swimming gear. I was very excited to finally go to the beach and lie on the sand. Unfortunately It was still too cold for a swim but sunny enough to get burnt. It's unbelievable that the winter temperature in Sydney is similar to summer in Germany...I would love to have a winter like this back home! I was relaxing on the beach with a huge fruit smoothie. Australia has the best fruit smoothies I have ever tasted!

Beautiful Bondi Beach

On Friday night I went out with some friends. We had a fantastic night at karaoke in the City. We booked a room for about 3-4 hours and enjoyed spending the night singing thousands of songs. I also got to know loads of new people from England, Mexico, Finland and America. It was very weird when the guy from England started to speak in German to me but he explained that his grandmother is from Germany and taught him the language.


On Saturday my friend and I went out shopping. We went to an outlet centre not far away from Sydney City called Birkenhead Point. We found loads of bargains on clothes. There are many discounts available at this time of year....winter sale! The day ended with me crashing on the couch and having a relaxing movie night at home.

Birkenhead Outlet Centre

Back in Germany I would never think of going for a long walk but in Australia it's different. I have already done loads of nice walks in and around Sydney. On Sunday we did the scenic walk from The Spit Bridge to Manly. It's a long walk lasting about 10km which hugs the coast. Unfortunately it started to rain heavily in the middle of the walk but afterwards there was a very clear and colourful rainbow above the ocean. The walk goes through the bush, on the beach and on coastal tracks. I would really recommend everyone to do it on a nice day as it's such a nice walk with amazing views.

Opera House

 This coming weekend I will fly to Melbourne. I'm very excited to see the city and to take a trip along the Great Ocean Road with Colourful Trips!


Until then....

What's that Aroma coming from the Rocks??

Where do I start......


Last Wednesday we had the intern meeting at the Fringe Bar in Paddington. 
We all had a few drinks and took up the offer of steak for $10...bargain!!
It was great to meet new people and finally put some faces to all the name I've been emailing.


When I first arrived here in Sydney I moved into a homestay and made a friend named Sabrina. We were living together for the first few weeks but then I chose to move out to a furnished apartment. This was Sabrina's last intern meeting and I know I'm going to miss her.
She has finished her internship and is now travelling up the East coast. Currently she is sitting on the beach in Byron Bay while I am sitting here writing ....I hope she doesn't get too sun burnt.

Intern meeting at the Fringe Bar

On the weekend my friends and I soaked up the sunny weather in all parts of Sydney. It was very warm despite it being Winter. My nose even got a little bit sun burnt!
It was simply wonderful to lie in the Royal Botanic Gardens with a perfect view over Sydney's Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. The Gardens were full of families having picnics and enjoying the outdoors. I even saw some people hand feeding the cockatoos.
I'm still really scared of all the bats hanging around and screeching in the trees.

Opera House and Harbour Bridge

On Thursday, a new intern named Jasmin arrived in Sydney. She came straight to our office to pick up the Sydney Internships welcome package.  We started chatting, went for lunch together and exchanged phone numbers. On Saturday morning we met up and went to Glebe markets. It is an alternate market with jewellery, clothes, food and various other things.
Jasmin really wanted to see the famous Bondi Beach and as it was a warm day, we caught a bus down to the beach. Just to let you know, my apartment is a 2 minute walk from Bondi Beach...not bad!
We spent a few hours sitting on Bondi Beach having a delicious smoothie and muffin. I can't stop eating chocolate muffins...yummy!!!
I'm so excited to go swimming in the coming weeks when it starts to get warmer. The funny thing was that normally you can see many surfers but on this beautiful day there weren't that many because the waves weren't big enough. It's amazing to watch how easily they slide across the waves.


We then decided to go to Watsons Bay which is near the south head of the harbour. I hadn't been there before so it seemed like a good opportunity to make the trip.
It's such a beautiful place, make sure you have a look at my pictures! We saw many dogs jumping in the water, families having picnics and there was even a wedding going on.

The Gap

Sunset in Watson's Bay

The Rocks Aroma Festival


As planned I went to the annual Rocks Aroma Festival. My friends and I had been looking forward to it all week and thankfully the weather delivered. The festival was great and there were so so so many people.
I tasted delicious sweets, chocolates, rice pudding which I really miss from home, nougat and of course coffee.
The entire area in the Rocks and Sydney Harbour was full of people who joined in the festival. I haven't seen so many people in the one place while I have been in Sydney.
There was even a stage with some shows. One of the shows included a fantastic belly dance...by a man!! 

The Rocks Aroma Festival

Chocolate

Dips

My favourite kind of fruit...chocolate

Many varieties of tea

Male Belly Dance

I regularly go for a run down at Bondi Beach at the end of the day. I'm dreaming of the time when the weather warms up and I can also have a swim.


Until then......